Chapter Forty-Three

Mallory

“Umm… Hi. I…uhhh.” Fuck, why am I such a bumbling idiot? I clear my throat quietly and try to find my inner strength. We have barely talked in almost two weeks and I know it’s because he’s trying to catch a serial killer. I shouldn’t be trying to steal any of his time, but I miss him and I want to be selfish. Just once.

“I just wanted to let you know that I’m off now, and have the day off tomorrow and have nothing planned. Soooooo… yeah. Bye.”

What the fuck, Mallory? How do I delete a voicemail I left on someone’s phone? Is that even possible? Probably not.

I cringe at myself the whole drive home and try to scrub the embarrassment from my skin in an excessively long shower. After my car went into the shop, Nox drove me to work the next morning. Jayden dropped my car off around noon that day and I haven’t seen Lennox since that morning. Much to my dismay, he paid the bill for whatever was done to my car.

By the time I get out of the shower, my tummy is rumbling. Checking the time on my phone, I see it’s just shy of 5 pm, and there’s a reply from Ghost.

Ghost:

XO

Are you kidding me? I’ve been effectively brushed off by the two men who have been beating down my door for the last month. Nox I understand, his job takes priority, and I’m not at all jealous. But where the fuck has Ghost been? I plop down on the couch and start to work the hair brush through my wet hair.

I mean, he’s been around. I’ve seen him on my cameras, coming and going as he pleases. Watching me sleep and laying next to me in bed. Sometimes I catch him just looming in the trees, I don’t know what that’s about. It probably feeds his stalker obsession so I just let him watch.

He’s taken up this wonderful habit of reading my books and leaving sticky notes around the house referencing them. Asking my thoughts on all the romantic and sexual things he absorbs while he devours the pages. It’s adorable but I want to see him too. Fuck, I’m needy.

I toss my brush onto the counter and start to scour the kitchen for something with some sort of sustenance to satiate my stomach. Nothing is appealing and I really don’t want to drive all the way into town, or pay the outrageous delivery fee to have a pizza brought to me. Noodles it is, I guess.

There’s a rapping at the door that immediately sets me on edge. I never have unannounced visitors. Except for Ghost and I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t knock, he has a key. I’m frozen, wondering what to do and why I never wear pants.

“Baby, I know you’re there. Can you open the door please?”

Nox?

Getting my ass in gear, I clear the distance in a millisecond. If Ghost watches this footage back later it will be sure to have him in stitches, the way I scramble and parkour over the coffee table. I swing the door open and what I’m greeted with both sinks and swells my heart.

It’s Lennox, but a severely deflated and exhausted version of him. Deep bags hang under his eyes, his scruff is beginning to grow out into a beard, he’s dishevelled and his clothes are wrinkled. He’s working himself into an early grave at this rate, he needs to slow down and take care of himself.

Still, I drink him in like a dehydrated woman in the desert. He’s got two pizzas, a duffle bag slung over his shoulder, and some grocery bags in his other hand.

“Hi,” he says, beaming that award winning smile at me.

“Hi.” My cheeks heat and I feel it all the way to my toes. Where’s my ‘hello kiss’?

I lift the pizza boxes from his hand and they’re a lot hotter than I expect after being in the car for almost an hour. “Did you teleport here?”

He chuckles, “What?”

“These are a lot hotter than I expected, and I didn’t hear your truck pull up.”

“Oh, the pizza place let me borrow one of those delivery bags that keep the food hot.”

“What? Really?” I place the food on the counter and watch him unload the groceries and put them away. It’s odd, but I don’t hate it. I kind of really like watching him play this domestic role.

“Yeah, perks of being a police officer in a small town, I guess,” he shrugs.

“You know, a heads up would have been nice,” I quip and he smirks at me.

“Probably, but the look of surprise on your face is worth whatever annoyance you feel at me for showing up unexpectedly.” Damn, okay. Point for Nox. I really want to kiss him, how much longer will I have to wait? Should I make the first move?

“Nox?” I inquire.

“Yeah?”

“What are you doing here?”

“You called.”

Well yeah, I did, but it’s not like I expected him to drop everything and show up on my doorstep.

“Okay, but aren’t you supposed to be working?” I ask.

“Do you want me to leave?” Definitely not.

“Well, no.”

“Then what’s the problem?” There’s a fleeting glance of concern on his face but then it dissolves as he turns to me fully, closing the space between us.

“I just…” Whatever I was going to say dies on my lips as he seals his mouth against mine. Fucking finally.

I melt into him, embracing this moment because who knows how long it will be until I see him again. I’m just going to be happy that he’s able to be here, for however long. My kiss becomes demanding, I pull him against me and tease my tongue along his bottom lip. He groans in appreciation but starts to pull away nonetheless. Not. Happening.

I grip onto his shirt and hold him to me, reigniting our passion the way he and Ghost have sparked my very being to life. His right hand skims up my body. The gentle touch breathes life to that side of me Ghost brings out. I walk into him, directing his steps backwards towards the couch. Our lips parting when I push him roughly down onto it.

“Mallory…” he growls, but it falls on deaf ears as I straddle him and crash us together once more. His hands are on my hips as I dominate him. I thread my fingers through his hair and pull his head back. Kissing and nipping slowly down his neck. I pull at the collar of his shirt but before I can trail kisses across his clavicle I’m wrenched back by his hand woven in my ebony locks.

“So hungry,” he says. His massive chest rising and falling with barely restrained desire.

“Starving,” I whisper.